Good grief. I force a smile. “Yes.”
With a big grin, she sits back, twists her finger in her hair and seductively licks her lips. “I volunteer at a homeless shelter, and I like to take sunset strolls along the beach.”
“Really? Which shelter?”
“Oh you know, the one on 3rd Street.”
Through my various commitments, we do a lot of work with the many homeless shelters throughout town, and I’m very familiar with where she’s talking about. “Delancey? Or is it Sanctuary?”
She runs her finger up and down my chest. “I’d love to see where your happy-trail line goes.”
“My happy-trail line?” I know exactly what she means, but she’s even more aggressive than the usual women I meet.
Giggling, she coos, “Yes, silly. You know, the line of hair that starts below your belly button and leads to somewhere exciting.”
I’ve got her number. She’s one of those who wants the notoriety of sleeping with me.
I give up. She isn’t interested in me personally. They never want to talk about when my cousin and I visited the earthquake disaster zone in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Or when I was sixteen and spent the summer working as a wrangler in Wyoming. They want fame, fortune and notoriety. Not me.
I try several times to start a conversation, then hint at having her move on since I’m not going to take her home or go home with her, but she’s relentless.
“Can we take a selfie?”
“My panties are so wet. You should see.”
“I love this song. It makes me horny.”
My friends are distracted by women they’ve met, so I politely excuse myself from her relentless attack, explaining that I need to go to the bathroom. She follows me right to the door. I wonder if she was planning to come in and join me.
Club bathrooms are so gross, but I hide for a few moments, stalling as long as I can and hoping it’s long enough.
Heather is still waiting for me when I emerge from the bathroom.
“I’m sorry. I need to go,” I tell her.
She appears crestfallen as she pulls a card from her pocket. “Oh. Okay. Here’s my number. I’d love to see you some time.”
I smile, not wanting to hurt her feelings, and say, “Thanks.”
I call a Lyft and head out of the club, turning the corner as I wait for the ride-share to arrive. I try not to make eye contact with the people who pass me on the street as I text my twin sister.
Me: Hey. What are you up to?
CeCe: I’m out with the girls. You already done for the night?
Me: Yes. Want to hang out?
CeCe: We’re over at Quince. Come on over.
Me: Should be there within fifteen minutes.
CHAPTER THREE
Sara
Sitting in our Monday morning partners meeting, we’re all sharing stories of clients and the success of the carnival, but I can’t stay focused. I keep thinking of Henry and what he does for me. I cried over the weekend thinking about him. We dated for only six months, and we broke up a little over a month ago when I learned he was married.
I’ve concluded that he doesn’t want me, he only wants sex. I’m angry at myself for being so naïve to not figure it out sooner, but also angry at him for all the lies. I’m sad that I still think of him and want something we’ll never have. I wasted time with Henry. San Francisco is not single-female friendly, and if my job didn’t require me here, I’d be gone. I hear there are single straight men in Alaska.
As I try to get my head in the game, Mason says, “Well, I think it’s time to let you all know that we have a verbal agreement with Smithright Software.”
To take precautions, the partners secretly chose, researched and wrote bids for three companies, all under the radar while we had our firm concentrating on bids that we thought were less than stellar but would be fed to the competitor. It’s another sigh of relief to know we won another start-up, and we’re all anxious. “Great news!” is heard all around.
“Sara, I’ll get you the details, and you can run through the contracts,” Mason continues, then turns to Emerson. “We discussed a laundry list of activities that your team will need to get accomplished.”
Emerson nods. “I’ve already identified someone to work on-site, and we can move forward with recruiting a finance person to aid them in the reporting issues that Dillon found during the audit process.”
“Good thinking,” Dillon says, grinning at her.
Since our creation as a company, we had a rule of not dating in the workplace— particularly within the partners. Dillon and Emerson clicked better than most. As they each struggled with life-altering challenges, they leaned on each other heavily, and their strong friendship developed into a wonderful relationship. With the other partners’ blessings, Dillon and Emerson recently got engaged, and we’re all happy for them.
Cameron, our technology partner, chimes in. “It appears that Perkins Klein will pull in the three duds we allowed to be slipped to them, but we need to ferret out our mole. While I have no problem working in a vacuum and doing the work quietly, I feel we’re spending a lot of money in salaries to not be chasing this with our entire team.”
We all nod, and Dillon says, “While I was on my sabbatical, you did a background check on each employee and didn’t find anything. What do we think should be next?”
I speak up. “Emerson and Mason, Tom over at PeopleMover confirmed our espionage suspicions when he gave you our research that Perkins Klein presented to them. We need to determine who has access to everything. We also need to be sure we’re marking things confidential.” I turn to Cameron. “Can we determine who accesses what files and who might be checking out things they aren’t supposed to be looking at?”
“Absolutely. Everything an employee touches has a digital footprint.”
“Great. Do we feel comfortable opening up our research team?” Mason asks.
“I think so,” Dillon responds. “My team is constantly reviewing and evaluating proposals.” He glances at an Excel spreadsheet he has with him. “Right now we have better than six hundred proposals we’re sifting through. How about we have them focus on those companies, particularly those in the Perkins Klein portfolio, that already have angel or first-round funding.”
“That sounds good.”
“Cameron, if you could review those companies and check out their technology and viability, that would set us up for our next few prospects,” Dillon continues.
“Sounds good,” Cameron replies.
“Great. And Dillon, you’re heading to New York to ring the bell with Tom to celebrate PeopleMover going public this week, right?” Mason asks.
“Yes, we leave Thursday in his private jet. Being there will be exciting.”
“Any thought on where they’ll land by the end of the first day?”
“I’m guessing that should be around one hundred million dollars for the company bottom line,” Dillon tells us.
I whistle. “Nice!”
“Well, I think we should all celebrate this weekend,” Mason says. “Not only do we have Dillon and Emerson’s engagement party, but this is our biggest win to date. Speaking of which, when we first formed SHN, we talked about an advisory board. Dillon has suggested that since we have an in, we approach Charles Arnault, Jr. to determine if he would like to be on our advisory board. What does everyone think?”
“I love the idea,” Cameron replies. “He knows technology, business, and finance. If he’d be willing to do it, it would be of great value to us.”
I watch the group, and everyone seems to be on board with the idea. “Has anyone approached him?” I ask.
“No. I thought since they’re hosting the engagement party on Sunday afternoon, we might be able to speak with him after the party. It would mean we all need to stick around.”
“I’ve known Charles since I was a freshman at Stanford,” Emerson shares. “He’s always fair, open, and honest. When you all approached me, he knew you and knew you well. W
ithout his approval, I never would’ve sold my company to you. I think he would be very supportive.”
Mason turns to me. “I’d like to hear from both Dillon and Sara on this.”
“I suggested it, so obviously I’m for it,” Dillon starts. “But I’ve gotten to know him these past few months. He’s tied to many companies here in The Valley. He’s also seen a lot and brings a perspective of experience we don’t have and probably need. I don’t have any problem asking him. I think the party would be a great way to open the conversation to gauge his interest.”
“I agree,” I reply.
Looking at the group, Mason says, “Great. I like the idea. Let’s see what he says. I think his perspective on the espionage would be interesting.”
Emerson sighs. “And to think we almost lost PeopleMover to Perkins Klein.”
Dillon puts his arm around her. “Only because you and Mason saved it.”
Mason and I shake our heads as Emerson adds, glancing at Dillon, “No, it’s because Tom Sutterland had a level of ethics and loyalty to you, Dillon.”
“Okay, you two,” Cameron pipes up. “Get a room if you’re going to start getting busy.”
Emerson turns crimson and we all agree that this is going to be a good week.
As we’re walking out of the meeting, Emerson asks, “Sara, do you have a minute?”
“Of course,” I tell her.
“Any chance I can convince you to walk down to Starbucks with me?”
I’m a bit taken aback, hoping nothing is wrong, “Sure, is everything all right?”
“Absolutely. I’d like to ask you something.”
“Let me grab my coat and my wallet.”
“You only need your coat. I’m buying.”
We have a Starbucks in our building, but to stretch our legs—and sometimes for privacy—we walk the three blocks to another one. Emerson has this amazing glow about her, and she seems happy. I was worried when Dillon asked to come back, but only if he could have a relationship with Emerson. I wasn’t sure if the relationship was going to create problems for the team, but I love them both and can’t imagine SHN without them.
I don’t have many friends. I’m not super outgoing, I work twelve-hour days, seven days a week, and my idea of a fun time is often curling up with a good book. Emerson is the closest thing I have to a close friend, but outside of work and the occasional glass of wine after work, we don’t do much together. However, we are more than partners. We’ve shared a lot of ourselves, and I adore both Emerson and Dillon. I’m glad we’re taking this time to hang out for a bit.
After we have our coffee in hand and sit down a moment, Emerson says, “Dillon and I were wondering if you would be willing to be in our wedding as a bridesmaid.”
I’m completely stunned. “I’d be honored. But I’ve never been a bridesmaid before. What do I need to do?”
“Well, you’ll most likely have to rein in my best friend, CeCe, but beyond that, you guys will all go out and pick out a dress. My only request is that they should all be the same color and fabric, but maybe different cuts so they flatter your figure. And maybe you can wear them again.”
“That’s easy.”
Conspiratorially, Emerson says, “You would think so. There will be five of you. CeCe, my friends Greer and Hadlee, and Dillon’s sister Siobhan. I think you met her at Dillon’s father’s funeral.”
“Yes, I remember her. Isn’t she pregnant?”
“She’ll have the baby in the next few weeks, and we have a little over a year to get it together. I’ll admit, I feel as if I’m getting a late start on this. We have time, but people sure do get worked up about wedding planning, and work has been too busy lately to deal with it all.”
“I hear you.”
“I’ve asked Tina to be my wedding planner.”
“Great thinking. Tina will put on an amazing wedding, if the fall carnival’s anything to go by.”
“She has a budget in mind that’s probably more than I want to spend—she has so many plans and is going crazy—but it’s nice to have her narrowing down choices for me.”
I’m stunned at how things have progressed with her planning, but it occurs to me that she hasn’t told me where they plan to marry. “Do you think you’re going to marry here in San Francisco?”
“Part of me wants to, since all our friends are here. But the other part of me wants my family priest to marry us back in Denver. Tina is going to approach him about coming out, and then we’ll have a better idea of our options.”
Reaching across the table, I grasp her hand and give her an assuring squeeze. “I’m excited. Thank you for including me. That’s sweet.”
“It was never a question for either of us. You’ve been a wonderful friend to both of us. When I talked about it with Dillon, he was relieved. He was hoping I’d ask you.”
We stand to walk back to the office, and I lean in to give her a big hug, “This is wonderful.”
Thank you!
As an independent author, I rely on so many people to get my book to print. I would never be able to truly do this on my own.
To my amazing husband who is my muse. Without your love and support, I’d never have taken the leap of faith to write these stories that are hidden in my head. Daniel, I will love you always and forever. You’re my happily ever after.
To my two boys that keep me busy. It is because of your soccer practices, baseball practices, piano lessons, art classes, swimming lessons, and play dates that I began writing in my car while I waited for your activity to end. I get some of my best ideas sitting and waiting. I write these books so I can afford one day to send you to your dream colleges and universities.
My amazing friends…Gayle, Christie, Michelle, Nicole, Helene, Steven, Erin, Bree and Ivy. You all have listened to me talk about my stories and pretending to enjoy the process as much as I do. You’ve all been amazingly supportive, read all or parts of my books and cheered me on from the sidelines. Thank you all for being my posse. I love you all.
Aria Tran at Resplendent Media who does my amazing covers and Nadia who makes my paperback books insides look amazing. My words would be empty without your artistry.
A huge thank you to Mark Dawson and Steven Blatch at Self-Publishing Formula who helped show me how to get my books in front of readers.
A huge thank you goes to the ladies over at Hottree Editing: Becky, Kristin, Olivia, Donna, Sue, Rebecca, Jenny, Mandy, and Randie. You all have helped make my books have great storylines, look professional, and error free. All of the errors in this back matter are mine and don’t speak nearly to the help and guidance the laides give me. If you know of anyone looking to break into the world of self-publishing be sure to talk to Becky and Olivia—sending you all hugs for all you do for me.
If you want to read the next installment in the Venture Capitalist series, be sure to sign-up for my mailing list. I send out teasers and even give cool things away. You can find the form at www.ainsleystclaire.com.
And finally to all of my readers, without your support and encouragement, there would be no Ainsley St Claire. Thank you so much. I love your e-mails, your reviews, sharing with me what you like and don’t like; I do listen and adjust. Please tell your friends if you like my stories. Getting the word out is what allows me to keep writing.
Ainsley
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Other Books by Ainsley St Claire
If you loved Venture Capitalist:
Forbidden Love, you may enjoy the other sensual, sexy and romantic stories and books she has published.
The Golf Lesson (An Erotic Short Story)
In a Perfect World
Forbidden Love, Venture Capitalist book 1
Promise, Venture Capitalist book 2
Desire, Venture Capitalist book 3
(Release September 1, 2018)
About Ainsley
Ainsley St Claire is a Contemporary Romance Author and Adventurer on a lifelong mission to craft sultry storylines and steamy love scenes that captivate her readers. To date, she is best known for Venture Capitalist eight-part series set in San Francisco following a group of Venture Capitalist on their quest to find love and ferret out the mole.
An avid reader since the age of four, Ainsley’s love of books knew no genre. After reading, came her love of writing, fully immersing herself in the colorful, impassioned world of contemporary romance
Ainsley’s passion immediately shifted to a vocation when during a night of terrible insomnia, her first book came to her. Ultimately, this is what inspired her to take that next big step. The moment she wrote her first story, the rest was history.
When she isn’t being a bookworm or typing away her next story on her computer, Ainsley enjoys spending quality family time with her loved ones. She is happily married to her amazing soulmate and is a proud mother of two rambunctious boys. She is also a scotch aficionada and lover of good food (especially melt-in-your-mouth, velvety chocolate). Outside of books, family, and food, Ainsley is a professional sports spectator and an equally as terrible golfer and tennis player.
Forbidden Love (Venture Capitalist Book 1) Page 22